Paula C. Weston

This Week in Big Ten Hockey: With conference tournament looming, teams thankful for season as ‘this pandemic has affected everybody’

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Are we there yet?

It’s a valid question, given how long this COVID-compressed season has felt, given how easily the season could have been derailed, given the intensity of competition that’s taken place in mostly empty arenas.

As each team in the Big Ten prepares for the three-day, single-elimination playoff championship tournament that begins March 14, a picture of a unified, almost defiant conference emerges along with snapshots of the unique, specific experiences that define each team in the league.

Pickin’ the Big Ten: Feb. 26-27

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It’s the second-to-last week of the regular season. Can you believe it? Picks so far. Last week Drew: 4-1-1 (.750) Paula: 4-1-1 (.750) This season Drew: 55-30-3 (.6342) Paula: 49-36-3 (.574) This week It’s a post-points world, as we know now that there will be an unbalanced schedule in the Big Ten because of COVID-19. … Read more

This Week in Big Ten Hockey: ‘All of the coaches are in support of’ moving up start of postseason tournament to March 14

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On Tuesday of this week, Todd Milewski wrote in the Wisconsin State Journal that the Big Ten will likely be moving up the start date of the playoff tournament to Sunday, March 14. That is something that Wisconsin coach Tony Granato let slip, apparently, before anything official had been announced by the league.

Pickin’ the Big Ten: Feb. 12-13

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COVID continues to disrupt the Big Ten schedule, with Penn State the latest program to pause. The series between the Buckeyes and the Nittany Lions slated for this weekend has been postponed, and a scheduled series between Arizona State and Penn State scheduled for Feb. 20-21 has been cancelled outright. There is a month left … Read more

Pickin’ the Big Ten: Feb. 6-7

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It’s a relatively quiet weekend in Big Ten hockey. Michigan announced that the game between the Spartans and Wolverines scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 9, has been postponed “due to health and safety concerns by the athletics programs” following the two-week shutdown of all athletic activity at the University of Michigan because of COVID-19. That hiatus … Read more

This Week in Big Ten Hockey: Wisconsin eyeing national tournament as Badgers ‘deserve what we’ve done so far’

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With the addition of guest Arizona State, B1G Hockey has at least a one-team measurement for nonconference play, but it’s still nearly impossible to gauge where a team really stands in the national picture. Because of that uncertainty, this admission from Wisconsin coach Tony Granato is no surprise.

“I kind of peek at the rankings,” said Granato. “Everybody does.”

Pickin’ the Big Ten: Jan. 21-24

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After Notre Dame tightened up the B1G standings with a sweep of Minnesota last week, it’s starting to feel like the conference could open up a little — especially since the Golden Gophers play a nonconference set against Arizona State this week. It’s a full slate of action for the league, but first let’s see … Read more